Although you may contend that the main purpose of a virtual private network is to aid you in protecting your online privacy, there are a lot of people who are leveraging a VPN service without exactly knowing what it does. Most people think that VPNs can only help them go to websites that are prohibited by the ISP (internet service provider) or the government.
However, they do not know that VPNs are capable of securing a network connection against different online threats and keep their web sessions anonymous. Because of the lack of knowledge, most people use a VPN without any doubts.
And they leverage the service without checking or verifying the privacy policies of the VPN service companies. In return, they can’t entirely maximize the anonymity feature offered by the VPN service.
If you think you’re like this, you must consider making the best use of the anonymity feature of your VPN service. For a little help, here are five ways to maximize this feature. Read on!
Install the VPN App on Both Your OS and Browser
For the most part, do not just install the virtual private network application on your internet browser. You must also install it on your operating system (OS) platform. Most VPN services offer users with browser extensions for their applications even if various supported browsers may differ.
But, many services will, at the very least, give one browser extension that the consumes can install on their internet browser. In that way, the data transmissions that are made through that particular browser will be encrypted.
Sadly, a lot of users will only install the application on their internet browser. By that we mean, users will only take advantage of the privacy protection feature of the service for as long as they utilize such an internet browser. Therefore, if you want to make the best use of the anonymity feature, install the app on your OS platform too.
Install the VPN App on All of Your Devices
If, for example, you want to maximize the entire benefit or perks of online protection from the VPN service that you use, it’s always good to install the virtual private network applications on all of your devices.
You should not only install it on your smartphones and tablets, just like most individuals do, but you must install it on your smart TV, desktop computers, game consoles, or Linux machines.
As might be expected, you may not be able to install the application directly on some devices such as smart TVs and game consoles. However, you can, without a doubt, install it on your internet router.
Inspect Your Private Connection for DNS and IP Address Leaks
Using a virtual private network connection does not mean that, for the most part, your connection is entirely anonymous, yet, unless you inspect and verify whether there’s a DNS or IP address leak or not.
There are many websites that you can, more often than not, leverage to inspect whether your connection is leaking your DNS information or IP address. You can take advantage of those sites to check if your connection is completely private before using the network connection to do your web sessions.
The DNS leak and IP address leak may not be obvious right away except if you check it with a DNS leak and IP address leak checker websites.
Ensure That The Firewall and Kill Switch Feature Is Enabled
Your online activities will not matter considerably if you unexpectedly turned off your private connection because of several reasons. As a matter of fact, for a virtual private network service, connection collapses are somewhat typical.
Therefore, to stop your connection from revealing your info online while it’s suffering from connection drops, you must enable the kill switch feature to keep it from happening.
The kill switch feature will aid you in disabling the entire network connection if your connection drops occur in your private connection. Moreover, ensure to enable the firewall feature to safeguard your devices against online threats.
Make Use Of a Dedicated Private IP Address
Some virtual private network services will allow and authorize you to utilize a dedicated private IP address rather than utilizing a shared private IP address. They’ll provide this service to you for an extra cost.
But, as a result, you’ll enjoy the complete benefit or reward of anonymity in your online activities because the IP address is exclusive for you. Meaning, it’s not used by other users, giving you more privacy protection perks in all of your online activities.
Takeaway
If you want to be completely anonymous on the web, then follow these tips to maximize or make the best use of this feature of your virtual private network connection.
Do not just utilize your connection to access prohibited sites, instead use it to make the best use of your online anonymity. Also, be sure to choose the correct VPN to meet your needs. Read best VPN 2021 reviews online to help you out.
Read More: Proxy Meaning | Be Anonymous Online | VPN Tips | Industry Report
Author’s Bio:
Tyler Pack is a real estate consultant and journalist, with a passion for smart homes technology. He is keen on writing about home and property security, and cybersecurity.
